NEW DELHI, India: The BRICS summit India is hosting this weekend has drawn Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, while Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to arrive Saturday.
Officials expect the two-day gathering to focus on conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, global trade pressures and energy security. Putin arrived in New Delhi on Friday and planned to hold bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India’s foreign ministry later said the two leaders discussed conflicts in West Asia and the Black Sea region, including their impact on maritime trade and Indian seafarers.
Pezeshkian also arrived Friday and was scheduled to meet Modi. His visit comes amid the continuing US-Iran conflict and heightened maritime tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf of Oman.
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Xi’s trip will be his first visit to India since 2019. Beijing said China and India were arranging a bilateral meeting between Xi and Modi as relations gradually recover following years of border tensions.
Harsh V Pant of India’s Observer Research Foundation said the Gulf conflict could become the summit’s central fault line because BRICS now includes countries with sharply differing positions on the war.
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New Delhi expects leaders and dignitaries from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. The expanded grouping will also discuss trade, investment and multilateral cooperation.
